#ElectionsZW: Our voter registration is done offline we can’t pick multiple registrations using same address
ZEC chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana says the high volumes of people registering under the same address are caused by politicians and also the registration which is done offline.
There had been outcry following the revelation that there some houses had as many as 40 people registered using the address.
Some analysis had suspected that this could be a case of vote-rigging where people are bussed into certain constituencies ahead of by-elections to help with the numbers.
However, according to ZEC, the issue is caused by the registration system which is offline-based, and politicians also have a tendency of giving their supporters affidavits with their addresses to use.
‘’Some politicians are the chief culprits of this problem. The Commission has now and again deliberated on this issue in our multi-party liaison committees but to no avail.
‘’They are the ones who facilitate their supporters to be registered and some of them have been doing so during the current voter registration blitz and have set up desks where they commission affidavits for their supporters for presentation to our registration officers as proof of residence.
‘’Our registration is done offline and there is no way the Commission can tell that there is a high number of people who have registered under the same address.
‘’Further, the Commission does not have the capacity to determine whether the address provided is for properties that are uninhabitable.
‘’As long as the proof of residence provided meets the requirements of the law, ZEC is obliged to register that voter. The Legislature also seems to have taken this into account and provided for objection by voter procedures in the law.
‘’In terms of Sections 28 of the Electoral Act, a voter may object to the retention of any name of the voters’ roll of the constituency in which the objects voter is registered and he or she may request the removal of such a person’s name from the voters’ roll. ‘’The onus to object to the registration of any name on the voters’ roll is therefore squarely on those who are aggrieved,’’ he said
#ElectionsZW: Our voter registration is done offline we can’t pick multiple registrations using same address
